Faith on Trial on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and on IowaCatholicRadio.com, examines the influence of law and society on Christianity and people of faith. "Like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Monday, March 28, 2016

Last week the Becket Fund represented the Little Sistersof the Poor before the U. S. Supreme Court in the sisters’ effort to block the
Obama Administration from forcing them to distribute birth control and abortion
inducing drugs to their employees. If the court rules against them, the sisters
would face crippling Obamacare fines that would force them out of their work
helping the elderly and poor, regardless of faith or nationality.

Becket Fund counsel Stephanie Barclay will join Deacon
Mike Manno and Gina Noll Tuesday to give our listeners a debriefing on how the
arguments were received by the

Stephanie Barclay

Court. She’ll also discuss what will happen if
the Court splits 4-4 on the Little Sisters’ appeal and what an adverse ruling
will mean for the Little Sisters and for religious freedom in general.

Join Deacon Mike and Gina for a very topical discussion
Tuesday at 9 a.m. on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM and 88.5 & 94.5 FM and
streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com. The program will be re-broadcast Tuesday at
9 p.m.

Faith
On Trial is on the air courtesy of our loyal sponsors: Attorney Rick McConville, Coppola, McConville,
Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise PC 2100 Westown Parkway, West Des
Moines, 515-453-1055; Confluence Brewing Company – off the Bike Trail just
south of Grey’s Lake, 1235 Thomas Beck Road where there is live entertainment
in the tap room every Thursday, and RobdenHartog,Wealth Management Advisor
at Northwestern Mutual Life, NW corner of 128th Street and Hickman
Rd, 515-210-4472.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

They are in the Supreme Court of the United States today pleading for the right
to care for the elderly poor across America.

Yes, you read that right.

The Little Sisters must plead their case because the infamous Obamacare
HHS mandate requires them to contract with insurance companies to facilitate
payment for abortion drugs and other medicines and procedures which violate
Church teaching.

Under this terrible mandate, even religious charities like the Little
Sisters are required to comply. If they refuse, they will be fined millions of
dollars and be forced to shut down -- abandoning the elderly poor they care for
every day.

For over 175 years, the Little Sisters of the Poor have heeded Christ’s call to
“feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless.” They serve the
poor with dignity, respect, and love.

And now, the Obama Administration is threatening to shut them down.

When they asked for relief from this specific mandate, the Obama administration
extended a phony ‘accommodation’. But this so-called accommodation requires
them to sign a form, explicitly granting a third party to provide the
objectionable drugs and services.

Some accommodation that is!

As it turns out, this so-called accommodation was nothing more than PR stunt.
The Little Sisters saw right through it, and refused to sign any forms that
compromised their beliefs.

Mother Provincial of the Little Sisters explains how this “opt-out” form still
violates their freedom:

"Why would the government need
us to provide these services? Everyone knows the government can provide free
services to anyone it wishes without our signing a form. It has always been
clear to us that rather than being an “opt out,” the form is an opt-in. It
gives the government permission to use our plan to deliver services such as
ella, the week-after pill. The form even says our signature will legally alter
our contract with our insurance provider."

The real motive is plain: to suffocate any dissent and bend the will of
religious people like you and me to the goals of the sexual revolution. Thank
God there are people like the Little Sisters with the courage to stand up and
defend our first freedom -- the freedom to believe and practice our faith!

With the death of Justice Scalia, the outcome of this case remains
uncertain. If the Court splits 4-4, the lower court ruling against the
Little Sisters will stand.

I hope you can take a moment and pray for this case, for the Little Sisters,
and for the cause of religious liberty in America.

The Little Sisters are holding signs outside the Supreme Court that read: “I’ll
have Nun of It.”

Monday, March 21, 2016

Every year, First Liberty, formerly Liberty Institute,
publishes a document, “Undeniable, the Survey of Hostility to Religion in America,” where each instance of religious hostility in the United States is
documented. Tuesday we will have one of the authors of that document Justin
Butterfield will return to Faith On Trial to discuss the latest instances of
that hostility and what is being done to counter them.

Justin, senior counsel for First Liberty, is a graduate
of Harvard Law School and practices primarily in the area of religious liberty.
He co-authored two scholarly articles:
“The Light of Accountability: Why Partisan Elections Are the Best Method of
Judicial Selection,” published in The Advocate, and “The
Parsonage Exemption Deserves Broad Protection,” published in the Texas
Review of Law & Politics.

So
join Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll as they discuss “Undeniable” and other
issues of interest at 9 a.m. Tuesday on Iowa Catholic Radio 1150 AM; 88.5 &
94.5 FM and streaming on IowaCatholicRadio.com. The program will be rebroadcast
at 9 p.m.

Monday, March 14, 2016

We’re going to take a bit of a departure from our normal
legal topics Tuesday and discuss the controversial topic of gene-editing
technology, CRISPR.

Supporters claim it has the potential to help rid the
world of certain diseases by snipping out defective parts of our genes,
opponents say there are unknown long-term impacts of this technology and are
calling for a moratorium on its use.

Anant Kamath

Joining Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll to discuss this
will be Anant Kamath, COO of Cellular Engineering Technologies, Iowa City. CET
does research on stem cells, tissue engineering and cancer biology. Anant
received his undergraduate degree as well as a law degree from the University
of Iowa, and a masters degree from Johns Hopkins.

In addition to Arnant, we’ll have our monthly movie visit
from our research associate and movie reviewer, Stephanie Crowley, with a
review of the movie “Risen,” the story of a Roman tribune who is ordered to
investigate the mystery of what happened to Jesus’ body.

So join Deacon Mike and Gina for a lively half-hour at 9
a.m. Tuesday on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming
on IowaCatholicRadio.com. The program will be re-broadcast at 9 p.m.

Monday, March 7, 2016

This week we will be discussing the fight against
physician assisted suicide not only in Iowa but across the nation. Two guests
will discuss this fight with Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll. Barbara Lyons of
the Coalition Against Assisted Suicide (also see Patients' Rights Action Fund) will join us from Milwaukee and in
studio will be State Senator David Johnson.

Join us for a lively discussion Tuesday at 9 a.m. on Iowa
Catholic Radio, 1150 AM and 88.5 & 94.5 FM. The program will be rebroadcast
at 9 p.m. The program streams on IowaCatholicRadio.com.

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Faith on Trial is where we examine the influence of law and society on Christianity. Here we will look at those cases and events that impinge on the rights of Christians to fully practice their faith. Join us every Tuesday morning at 9 or listen to our re-broadcast Tuesday evening at 9 (Central). The program can be heard on IowaCatholic Radio: 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on iowacatholicradio.com. Host is Attorney and Deacon Mike Manno.